Today's world places a lot of importance on speed, efficiency and user-friendliness. As such, it's no wonder that IT plays a huge role in things. Looking back just two decades, you'll see how technology has changed the way we communicate, shop, and work. Size makes no difference here either since we must stay competitive to thrive. Of course, there are also some other great reasons behind our adoption of technology today.CommunicationThe business world depends on being able to efficiently communicate instantaneously. IT has made this possible. This includes things like screen sharing programs, email, and managing business conference calls. All of these things allow us to communicate across time zones and help our businesses grow. Most of our customers are also using some type of digital communication – whether they want to see what products or services you're offering or they're ready to communicate with you about these things.Being able to communicate without any restrictions opens up new and better opportunities for our business today. It also helps us make better decisions, especially when we're ready to enter into new markets – an important precondition for the development of our business. Keeping all the relevant stakeholders in the loop about what's going on is important. Yet, this is something that wouldn't be possible if IT didn't give us a digital communication channel through which to do so. In fact, Business 2 Community reminds us that we should be thankful for such a means of communication because it's more efficient than our traditional phone service.Today, telephony isn't the only means of quick communication we have available either. Email isn't only fast, but it's free. This is why many clients prefer this over sending a letter through the postal service. Businesses should also appreciate the many advantages of using email, which include:Organizing file folders in your email box so you can quickly find customers, orders, and billsClosing folders once a project is complete so you have a digital record of the projectQuickly and neatly moving closed files onto CD or a hard drive for storage is also easily possible, giving you a duplicate or backup copy for if you ever need itEfficiencyAs a business, you must run a tight ship. This means streamlining your operations so they're as efficient as possible. Doing so also helps keep your expenses to an absolute minimum while also maximizing your return on investment (ROI) at the same time. All of this is possible because IT has made it so businesses can create a higher quality of products in less time. They also facilitate this by automating routine tasks, generating data instantaneously and without any errors, and providing data storage. So, now instead of manually performing tasks, you use modern technology, make fewer mistakes, and use your resources more efficiently.With everything that IT does for your business you can see how it also reduces your production costs while improving your ROI. There are many ways in which IT does this for you today including:Redundant tasks are now centralized and handled by a computer instead of wasting precious time and energy doing them ourselvesExpensive functions are now handled within the online environment where cost control measures are easier to apply customer support is now better than ever because it's handled on the customer's time thanks to using email instead of live phone callsBusinesses can now hire talented employees regardless of where they're located without worrying about relocating them because now remote work options are possibleAny work that can't be handled “in house” can easily be outsourced for a fraction of what it'd cost to hire a new employee to fill the positionEmployees are now rewarded by being allowed to spend some time working from home or another place in which they feel comfortable instead of spending all of their time in the officeClearly you can see how IT is vital to a business' life today, regardless of what sector you work in. By using computers to store, transfer, retrieve, and send information things move along more accurately and efficiently. This is why the U.S. Small Business Administration says that now is the time to get connected.Competitive AdvantageAlmost every business is using IT in almost every part of their business today. With this in mind, the competitive advantage actually depends on what type of equipment you use and how skillfully you use it. While some companies are able to use IT to create new products and services, others use IT to focus on reducing production costs or improving the customer service experience. All of these are great ways to boost the company's profit margin. However, according to Bizzmark Blog the companies who are really getting ahead of their competition are those who are building IT into their products in such a way that it's almost impossible for their customers to change products or platforms.Times really are changing. In the past, managers learned their skills through textbooks but with the advent of this new IT practical experience is much more important. These managers need to go online and find ways of staying up-to-date with current trends, techniques, software and human resources – things that will change how they do business and give them the competitive edge their business needs today. They also need to use online databases and websites to find potential employees, compare insurance proposals, tackle employee issues and to simply keep an eye on what the competition is doing. By managing your business in this way, you have yet another way of staying ahead of your competition.Since IT is the backbone of every business today, we must give it the quality attention it deserves. Investing in people who are technologically savvy will help your business maximize its output. Clearly, this is shown in the many reasons why we need to adopt technology today. So, while IT decisions are challenging, staying well-informed and on top of these things prevents your business from being harmed. Clearly, IT really is so important we simply can't overlook it today.See More